S C Y 



S C Y 



'.ruth, artlefs and groh enough : the moderns have improved 

 vaitly on tliis method of writing. See Cipher. 



It (hoiild feem, that befides this fcytala, ufed for po- 

 litical and military purpofes, private perfons made ufe of a 

 .ontrivance fomewhat fimilar, to prevent deceits in con- 

 rafts ; but thefe were exaftly like our tallies.' 

 SCYTALE, in Zoology, the name given by the ancients 

 1 a fpecies of ferpent, which was very long and thin, and 

 -lually big all along the body, fo that the tail was noteafily 

 dittinguifhed from the head. 



Linnaeus mentions two animals under this title ; one, a 

 fpecies of anguis or fnake, and the other a fpecies of the 

 Boa; which fee. 



SCYTALIA, in Botany, elegantly fo named by Gxrt- 

 ner, from ^x\J]or, ajh'in, or hide, and !Ty.v\%\r,, a thong, in allu- 

 fion to the leathery fubftance and colour of the fliin of the 

 dried fruit, as alfo to the little (hield-hke tubercles, with 

 which its outfide is befet, refembling a coat of mail. 

 Schreber has followed this author : but the fame genus was 

 publifhed two years afterwards by Loureiro, under the name 

 of Dimocarpus, indicating its double or twin fruit, which 

 Willdenow has unawares retained, though in every refpeft 

 lefs eligible. Hence the latter appellation is alfo adopted in 

 the Hortus Kewenfis, the plan of this book being, as much 

 aspoffible, to follow Willdenow. Had we been aware that it 

 would have done fo in the prefent inftance, we might perhaps 

 have yielded our better judgment to convenience, and have 

 given the hiftory of the genus under the head oi Dimocarpus ; 

 but this not being the cafe, we (hall exhibit it here, acknow- 

 ledging our preference for Scylalia. — Giertn. Sem. v. i. 197. 

 t. 42. Schreb. Gen. 262. (Dimocarpus ; Loureir. Co- 

 chinch. 233. Willd. Sp. PI. v. 2. 346. Ait. Hort. Kew. 

 ▼.2.354. Euphoria; Jud. 247. Lamarck lUuftr. t. 306. ) 

 Clafs and order, Octandria Monogynta. Nat. Ord. Trihilatt, 

 Linn. Sapindi, Julf. 



Gen. Ch. Cal. Perianth inferior, of one leaf, very fmall, 

 with five minute teeth. Cor. Petals five, fmall, reflexed, 

 hairy on the inner furface, fometimcs wanting. Stam. Fila- 

 ments eight, fometimes but fix, awl-fhaped, hairy, longer 

 than the petals, dilated at the bafe ; anthers heart- (haped, in- 

 cumbent. P'tft. Germen fuperior, two-lobed, fomewhat 

 ■ftalked ; ftyle fhortcr than the ilamens ; lligmas two, fpread- 

 ing. Perk. Berries two, ovate or globofe, with a coria- 

 ceous warty coat, pulpy within, each of one c^-ll. Seed 

 folitary, large, elliptical, polilhed, obliquely cut away at 

 the bafe, where it is inferted into the (lightly elevated bot- 

 tom of the pericarp. 



Obf. Gartner has dcfcribed as a flelhy tunic of the feed, 

 what is really only the dried pulp of the berry. 



Efl". Ch. Calyx inferior, with five (hallow teeth. Petals 

 five, hairy, or none. Berries two, coriaceous, warty. 

 Seeds folitary, elliptical, pohlhed. 



I. S. Liichi. Lce-chce, or Apetalous Scytalia. (Di- 

 mocarpus Litchi ; Ait. Hort. Kew. v. 2. 354. Loureir. 

 n. I. Litchi chincnfis ; Sonnerat Ind. Or. v. 2. 230. t. 129. 

 Sapindus edulis ; Ait. ed. i. v. 2. 36.) — Flowers with fix 

 ftamens, and no petals. Fruit with prominent warts. — Na- 

 tive of China, Cochinchina, and Tunquin. The celebrated 

 governor Hallings is faid to have fent this plant to England 

 in 1786, and it is marked as flowering in the ftove at Kew, 

 in May and June. The younger Linnxus, however, ap- 

 pears to have obtained a fpecimen of the leaves, from the 

 coUeftion of the marquis of Rockingham at Wimblcton, 

 during his (lay in England in the Ipring of 1782. The 

 Litchi is defcribed by Sonnerat as a large tree, with a foft 

 white wood, abounding in pith. The leave: are alternate, 

 ftalked, abruptly pinnate, eonfiiUng of three or four pair 



of oppofi'tc, ftalked, elliptic-lanceolate, pointed, entire, 

 equal leaflets, quite fmooth on both fides, evergreen, each 

 furniflied with a midrib, and numerous fmall interbranching 

 veins, the latter fcarcely viCble but in a dried (late. Each 

 leajlet i& three or four inches long. Panicles terminal, com- 

 pound, repeatedly branched. Flowers fmall, greeni(h, 

 with a very downy calyx, but' no petals. In fome we find 

 eight ftamens, but in the fame panicle others have only fix. 

 The berry, ufually folitary when ripe, is nearly globular, 

 concave at the bale, an inch or more in diameter, reddifh, 

 covered with very numerous, clofe, prominent tubercles. It 

 is of an agreeable flavour, and faid to be one of the beft 

 fruits of the countries where it grows. The Chinefe dry it 

 in ovens for exportation. Some which we have tafted, in 

 England, contained a firm very acid pulp, not unhke the 

 tafte of tamarinds. 



2. S. Longan, Longan, or Many-petalled Scytalia. 

 (Dimocarpus Longan ; Ait. Hort. Kew. v. 2. 354. Lou- 

 reir. n. 2.) — Flowers with eight ftamens and five petals. 

 Fruit nearly fmooth. — Native of China. Cultivated in that 

 country, Cochinchina, the Eaft Indies, the Mauritius, &c. 

 This is alfo a large tree, with a fweet and grateful/ru//, not 

 half thefizeof the laft, more precifely globular, and either 

 quite fmooth, or (lightly fcaly, not warty. The leaflets are 

 rather more numerous than in the former, (horter, blunter, 

 and more elliptical ; at leaft in our Eaft Indian fpecimens. 

 In one from the ifle dc Bourbon, marked Longan, the 

 leaflets are obhque, or unequal, at the bafe, alternate, and 

 taper-pointed. The /rtt/V is quite fmooth. We fufpeftthis 

 to be rather fome Sapindus, confounded with the true 

 Longan. 



Loureiro mentions two more fpecies unknown to us, one 

 of which, his Dimocarpus informis, feems to be the wild 

 ftate of the Litchi, in the woods of Cochinchina. He 

 fpeaks of the wood of all the four as of an excellent qua- 

 lity, heavy and hard, of a brownidi-rcd. The fame author 

 relates, that the Z;/r/;/, being impatient of cold, as well as 

 of great heat, ismoft cultivated in the fouthern provinces of 

 China, and the northern ones of Cochinchina. As the fruit 

 will not ripen at Pekin in the ordinary way of cultivation, 

 trees in flower are fent thither by water, fo as to yield ripe 

 fruit, for the emperor's ufe, on their arrival. This is at- 

 tended with great labour and expence. 



SCYTHjE, Sxt/Ga., among tlie Athenians, a defignation 

 fometimcs given to the officers, more ufually called lexi- 

 archi. 



They had the name Scytha, becaufe they were often 

 natives of Scythia who were chofen lexiarchi, as being 

 brawny and llurdy fellows. 



SCYTHARION, in Botany, a name given by the an- 

 cient Greek writers to a tree, whofe wood was of a fine 

 yellow colour, and was ufed in tliofe early times to dye 

 things yellow : it wa^ called alfo Seylhicum lignum, from its 

 country, and chrffoxylon, or golden wood, from its fine 

 yellow colour. It has been luppofed that this was tlie 

 fame with the colinus coriaria of the Romans ; but this is an 

 erroneous conjefture, fince the wood of tliis tree dyed a 

 yellow colour, and that a brownilh-nd, or a clear and pure 

 red, according as the infufion was made more or Ids ftrong. 

 This fcytharion, therefore, could not be the fame with the 

 cotinus, but it certainly is tlic fame witii the tha['fum of the 

 Greeks. 



SCYTHE, in /floriculture, tlie implement uled in mow- 

 ing, being a crooked blade joined at right angles to a long 

 pole, or handle. It is fometimcB written fillic, or fylhc. 



Sec Mowing. „ r- j 



Common fcythcs arc of fcveral difl^Lrcnt conftruaions and 



' p 2 kiiidi, 



